Hopefully others can use this thread to clarify questions arising in this adventure. If you happen to see another thread, please link post a link in this one to try and keep things tied together.
Chapter 1: Shadow in the Sky
Chapter 2: Children of the Void
Chapter 3: The Armageddon Echo
Chapter 4: Endless Night
Chapter 5: A Memory of Darkness
Chapter 6: Descent into Midnight
In the next week or so, we're expecting to ship Pathfinder #14 -- Second Darkness Chapter 2: "Children of the Void" (OGL).
As always, be sure to link anything back to here, or this to those.
Enjoy!
Thought I'd bump this considering it's gone through customs.
Yeeee-hawwww!
I'm going to start watching my mailbox again!
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Thought I'd bump this considering it's gone through customs.
Well since it got held up soooo long by 'customs' [what a horrible custom by the way], I very much doubt there is any Starmetal left by the time the adventurers get to ground zero, being that the prospectors got there a whole month ahead of them.
So what do you suggest I do to fill in the void of, er, Children of the Void ?
I have had the adventurers paint up the Gold Goblin to green [in hopes that watching the paint dry would keep them entertained], then some fellows in tights and masks came along and said something about copyright infringement.
Much combat ensued, since the adventurers could not take on adamantium claws, power armor and a barbarian that could only say 'Hulk smash' they have withdrawn from Varisa proper and are looking for easier pickings, maybe someting like the Tarrasque.
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The watchtower is a great 'encounter' and yes it screams 'popcorn devouring summer blockbuster' all over it but wow Mike, hard *not* to see this as a potential TPK !!
And would characters be able to purchase a map of the island at Riddleport ? I was thinking of giving them that chance but then thought otherwise because of the failed colonization; it's doubtful maps of that era were even made.
And lest we forget, ALL HAIL VOID ZOMBIE MIKE !
Creative Director
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The watchtower is a great 'encounter' and yes it screams 'popcorn devouring summer blockbuster' all over it but wow Mike, hard *not* to see this as a potential TPK !!
And would characters be able to purchase a map of the island at Riddleport ? I was thinking of giving them that chance but then thought otherwise because of the failed colonization; it's doubtful maps of that era were even made.
And lest we forget, ALL HAIL VOID ZOMBIE MIKE !
There's no reason why the PCs wouldn't be able to purchase a map of the island; there's not really much there, though, and the majority of the places that the PCs need to go to wouldn't be on the map anyway, so giving the PCs a map beforehand shouldn't hurt the adventure at all.
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Thank you James; I guess I should have been more specific, as in my above post, I meant 'having a detailed map of the island from the colonization era' being made available to the players.
Another thing I would like to hear your thoughts on, or perhaps Mike could chime in here, while it makes for great storytelling, Clegg Zincher trying to break through the boundaries of his charmed state seems like pushing the parameters of how the spell works.
[I'm fully aware that the rules as written should not get in the way of a good story.]
I'm just trying to work through the internal story logic in it for my own game.
[I wold love for Clegg to survive and continue to be in the background of the official Golarion Riddleport by the way.]
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Creative Director
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The thing about charm person to remember is that it doesn't turn you into a puppet. That's what dominate person is for. Charm person only makes you think of the person who charmed you as a friend. It wouldn't, in Clegg's case, overwrite the fact that he's aware that drow are not well-liked, and that those who are found to be allied with and working for drow are likely to find their business in jeopardy as their reputation crashes.
So, while Clegg is under a charm, he can't take direct action against the one who charmed him, but he CAN still realize that if Riddleport finds out he's working with drow, that's the kid of thing that galvanizes crimelords into like-minded groups with an interest in murder.
Charm person, in the end, is only a first level spell. It shouldn't be impossible to resist, like dominate. There's rules built into the spell to allow for folk gaining a bonus to the save in some cases, and it can't make a charmed person do something against their nature. Working for the drow comes sort of close to "against Clegg's nature," but not so much that he won't do what the new boss-lady asks. She needs to make opposed Charisma checks now and then, probably, to keep Clegg in line, but he still has a few subtle ways to try to undermine the situation. As outlined in the adventure.
It's best to think of charm person not as mind-control, in other words, but as a Super High Bluff or Diplomacy check result.
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Thank you James.
The thing about charm person to remember is that it doesn't turn you into a puppet. That's what dominate person is for. Charm person only makes you think of the person who charmed you as a friend. It wouldn't, in Clegg's case, overwrite the fact that he's aware that drow are not well-liked, and that those who are found to be allied with and working for drow are likely to find their business in jeopardy as their reputation crashes.
I think the [very little bit] of trouble I am having with this idea is that Clegg *is quite aware* of his charmed state. In regards to this spell, I always thought said target could break the spell [at the very least a daily saving throw] the moment he/she were to become aware magic was involved.
So, while Clegg is under a charm, he can't take direct action against the one who charmed him, but he CAN still realize that if Riddleport finds out he's working with drow, that's the kid of thing that galvanizes crimelords into like-minded groups with an interest in murder.
I completely agree on the reasoning behind this, and helps to see the charmed character's motivations.
Charm person, in the end, is only a first level spell. It shouldn't be impossible to resist, like dominate.It's best to think of charm person not as mind-control, in other words, but as a Super High Bluff or Diplomacy check result.
I'm on my iphone, not on my computer, so I have to check the pdf later, but when I sped read through the pdf 3 days ago I could have sworn the Drow priestess used *Charm Monster* on Clegg rather than *Charm Person*. Which in turn was augmented by daily *Suggestion* spells.
And I am in complete agreement with you interpretation of Charm Person, and have played it in like vein since AD&D. But like I said above, the reason the spell works is the receipient is unaware of the active spell.
Again, as always, thank you James. Have a sublime weekend.
One of my concerns is that after my group found out that Zilcher was responsible for the raid on the Gold Goblin, they are totally out to get him. I don't think they'll be much interest in teaming up with him. They'll probably try to kill him at the first chance they get.
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Creative Director
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One of my concerns is that after my group found out that Zilcher was responsible for the raid on the Gold Goblin, they are totally out to get him. I don't think they'll be much interest in teaming up with him. They'll probably try to kill him at the first chance they get.
That's fine too, actually. That's why we detail all of Zincher's camp and his minions and pets and defenses, for groups that want to beat him up rather than ally with him. Either solution works.
Where are the dwarves?
Under "Concluding the adventure," Rescue the Prospectors:
There is a specific reward "For rescuing Goldhammer’s dwarves"
When the PC's meet Goldhammer at the docks, he even asks them to rescue any stranded dwarves they come across.
So, where are the missing dwarves?
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Hope all had a good weekend.
As per above post, it was a scroll of Charm Monster [my memory has not failed in my old age, *knocks on wood sprite*].
There was a question I had for Pathfinder 13 which I held back because I thought Pathfinder 14 would cover it; alas I think it got compounded.
The meteor that got called down causes a tsunami that strikes Riddleport and leaves considerable damage in its wake [thousands of gold pieces in structural and property damage, and by some accounts, up to 200 lost at sea]. If the bulk of the meteor struck devil's elbow, how was the tsunami caused in the first place ?
If a rather large portion of the meteor broke off from the main body that struck the island and hit the sea bed, how in turn did a similar [probobly stronger] tsunami *not* hit the island ? [Which was possibly, but not definitively, closer in proximity to the impact]
Said tsunami would flatten a mojority of the sites on the island, and would probobly deplete much of the local wildlife. I do realize that there are large portions of the island well above sea level, and this could contribute to the island withstanding the starfall, but I just wanted to learn the internal reasoning behind the story's events. Again, as always, thanks.
Said tsunami would flatten a mojority of the sites on the island, and would probobly deplete much of the local wildlife. I do realize that there are large portions of the island well above sea level, and this could contribute to the island withstanding the starfall, but I just wanted to learn the internal reasoning behind the story's events. Again, as always, thanks.
Large landslide on the island would have been highly possible given the impact and number of cliffs. That could have caused a tsunami that hit the mainland but not the rest of the island.
The tower encounter implies that there was at least one large landslide on that side of the island. I am of course just throwing that out there...
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Creative Director
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Where are the dwarves?
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Creative Director
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The meteor does indeed cause a tsunami that strikes Riddleport. It causes a tsunami because it strikes close enough to the ocean that the blast wave and resulting landslide from the main crater explodes outward to the northeast, more or less aimed directly at Riddleport. The resulting landslide is actually what causes the tsunami. As for the size and shape, that's all governed by underwater topography. Since the tsunami started at the landslide and shot away from Devil's Elbow, it left the island relatively untouched (the meteor impact itself doing the majority of the actual damage there).
Landside-baded tsunamis are actually MUCH larger and dangerous than earthquake based ones; Riddleport's lucky that the math on this impact only sent a relatively small one and not a 100-foot-plus monster its way!
I don't have my copy of this adventure yet, so I don't know a darn thing about them... but I have to admit, every time I hear the phrase 'Void Zombie,' I think of the alien ghost from that old Scooby Doo episode, "Spooky Space Kook.".
I think that if/when I run this adventure, my Void Zombies will have to have glowing skulls and go around screaming:
"WOO-LU-LU-LU-LOOO! AH-HAH-HAH-HAH!"
It's almost a moral obligation.
Please note, this wasn't intended as a criticism.
Void Zombies sound pretty awesome by the name alone.
I can't wait to see what they're actually like. I just have a weird sense of humor often triggered by imagining my player characters being chased around by Scooby-Doo villains.
EDIT: Which I know they aren't, really. It's just what popped into my head... oh damn, it's late and I've started imagining I'm offending people again. Okay, sleep.
freebie rewards to PCs never sit well with me, I personally like to reward actions directly taken by the PCs
and since the 4 dwarves that Goldhammer sent up to investigate Witchlight all got turned into zombies his promise of "a couple hundred gold and a good word to the boss" for safely finding and returning his men is an empty reward because there are no men from the Goldhammer expedition to be found
may I suggest
maybe the party could stumble onto and rescue these men as they are fighting off another Akata attack
and/or
they could be added to the random encounter section under "Riddleport Faction" maybe even replace that utterly random and out-of-place "Riddleport Tough's" as if some random thugs in Riddleport got together and swam over to the island to check things out
I was under the impression that getting to Devil's Elbow in the wake of the tsunami was all but impossible but for the most well connected and wealthy individuals of Riddleport
This would in essence "fix" the Goldhammer/Gas Forge rewards and give the party a direct reason and hand in securing a good relationship with the Gas Forge dwarves
How frequently do we check for wandering monsters on the island and what's the percentage chance of encountering them? I can't seem to find it in the text of the adventure or near the table.
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Creative Director
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How frequently do we check for wandering monsters on the island and what's the percentage chance of encountering them? I can't seem to find it in the text of the adventure or near the table.
Standard chances as listed in the DMG on page 95, basically. Devil's Elbow is wilderness, so 8% chance per hour.
Landside-baded tsunamis are actually MUCH larger and dangerous than earthquake based ones; Riddleport's lucky that the math on this impact only sent a relatively small one and not a 100-foot-plus monster its way!
There's two real world examples to back this up. The tsunami a couple years ago and the one made during the eruption of Kakatoa(sp). The more current one was earthquake based and every video of it shows a small, though far inland pushing, wave while the island volcano blew up so badly that it basicly caused itself to collapse, forcing waves that were easily 1/4 if not more the height of the empire state building out toward nearby villages. Heck, it blew up and collaspe so violently that it was heard half way around the world.
I thing I can't seem to find is:
isn't it 10? I could swear it was 10 mooks.
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Creative Director
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huh. I thought I replied to this thread, but I guess not.
Basically, the size and makeup of Creasey's crew is irrelevant to the adventure, since no encounters occur that could involve them (they're on shore leave at the time of the only major on-board encounter, if I recall correctly). So that basically means the crew can be anyone you want it to be.
A crew of 10 sounds about right to me, in any case! :)
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Basically, the size and makeup of Creasey's crew is irrelevant to the adventure, since no encounters occur that could involve them (they're on shore leave at the time of the only major on-board encounter, if I recall correctly). So that basically means the crew can be anyone you want it to be.
A crew of 10 sounds about right to me, in any case! :)
10 sounds fine. I wanted to know because I was considering having pirates assault the ship just before they weigh anchor at Devils Elbow. Indeed, in one Captain Grudge options is to do just that.
I'll make the crew 1st level experts (my logic the ship was intended for speed, not combat, so a skilled but not combat-ready crew would be ideal) Of course, the crew will mostly leave combat to the PC's.
I'll make the crew 1st level experts (my logic the ship was intended for speed, not combat, so a skilled but not combat-ready crew would be ideal) Of course, the crew will mostly leave combat to the PC's.
my sentiments exactly, regarding the crew of the Flying Cloud
Quick question, how high up is Witchlight? I know from the descreption its the highest point on Devil's Elbow, but I'm just wondering how high is that?
I could easily see my party standing next to the tower and looking at the water below and asking how far down it is.
I was thinking around 200' which would put the tower moving at just over 60' a round as it rolls down.
Thanks
JD
I cant remember where it said it but it think it said that the pool was calm and hence only a DC 10Hm, "the water filling the lower portion of the enormous cavern sloshes and surges with the tide..." seems to be the only reference to the water's current state.
Doesn't exactly sound calm.
I dunno. The calmest the ocean ever was when I swam in it, I dove in off a wharm after hanging out listening to it slash against the pylons. (This was in the middle of the night.) I don't think that the ocean is ever so calm that there's no sloshing happening.
On the other hand, this is a good excuse to make the water rougher, if that's better for your game. :)
Incidently...
I cant remember where it said it but it think it said that the pool was calm and hence only a DC 10Hm, "the water filling the lower portion of the enormous cavern sloshes and surges with the tide..." seems to be the only reference to the water's current state.
Doesn't exactly sound calm.
I dunno. The calmest the ocean ever was when I swam in it, I dove in off a wharm after hanging out listening to it slash against the pylons. (This was in the middle of the night.) I don't think that the ocean is ever so calm that there's no sloshing happening.
On the other hand, this is a good excuse to make the water rougher, if that's better for your game. :)
Speaking as a marine biologist, the dynamics of sea caves can either funnel the water coming in to be faster, rougher, etc. than it would be on a broad coast, or it can calm it down, especially when the face of the cave is so low over the surface that it's almost impossible to see in from the water side. I vote that it dampens the waves down, but there's still a gradual tidal surge over the course of hours, and that the surface of the pool moves gently up and down all the time.
Of course, with the addition of an orca in there (which should be visible to the PCs after a few minutes, since it needs to breathe; the pool should also be deep enough to accomodate it, which should make for even calmer water), it could get a little rougher...a big male can get to around 30' long here (don't know the stats for a Golarion one), and anyone who's seen Sea World ads can testify to how big a wave those buggers can kick up. ;->
For those concerned that orcas are made out to be bad guys, a) they may be different on Golarion, and b) even here on Earth, one of their ideas of "discipline" involves holding a miscreant underwater for a few minutes; annoying to painful for one of their own, but fatal to land-crawlers. Another one is launching someone naughty out of the water for a few dozen feet...if it's another orca, they'll generally try to "aim" so the disciplinee lands in water again. I have heard, though, that we apparently don't taste very good; most who've tried among the orcas don't make a habit of it. Again, that's the ones from Earth, though... ;->
LB
my sentiments exactly, regarding the crew of the Flying Cloud
I'll make the crew 1st level experts (my logic the ship was intended for speed, not combat, so a skilled but not combat-ready crew would be ideal) Of course, the crew will mostly leave combat to the PC's.
I'd love to have Creesy and Grudge mix it up, as per one of those Adventure Hooks (plus, ship-to-ship combat is soooo cinematic), but it doesn't have anything in Children of the Void about weapons, etc. for either of the ships. I know an old cagy bugger like Grudge wouldn't just rely on his spellcasters for offense, he'd have something like the fantasy equivalent of cannon, maybe arbelasts (sp?) and/or ballista, etc.
Are there good sources for combat ship stats in available Paizo products?
LB
For those concerned that orcas are made out to be bad guys . . .
We used to have orcas in a theme park here in town, until one killed a trainer. I'll have no trouble convincing my players that they can kill a human, and if anything I might just skip this encounter because of real world resonance. I could just avoid describing the combat, I suppose, but even so I think it might make players relive uncomfortable memories.
PC misery I love; player misery not so much.
Anyone have any thoughts on what to do if Shindiira gets captured by the PCs? I was toying with having a large group of drow show up and take her out, but now I'm not sure it really matters.
My PCs captured one of the drow (Depora, actually, who got away from them in Riddleport), but one of the PCs was a low-level agent for the Shin'Rakorath and was able to contact his superior and arrange for the elves to take charge of the prisoner.
The main problem that I can see with a drow prisoner is -- what do they do with her? They don't have anywhere safe to put her, and walking around dragging her tied up and having to keep a watch on her at all times gets old. If she gets away, she's probably going to be vindictive and come back to try to kill her former captors.
Probably the best thing to do (imo) would be to say that all drow sent to the surface world have a hidden poison capsule on a tooth that they can use to kill themselves if captured so as not to fall into the hands of the elves and be forced to reveal information. Unless your PCs have a good idea of what they want to do with her, of course.
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They managed to get her back to the Gold Goblin. She hasn't tried to escape yet, partly because I want to see what the PCs will do and partly because she wouldn't want to be spotted by all the city's inhabitants either. (She really doesn't know where she is or where she'd go.)
In the end, I had Kwava ask them to escort her to Crying Leaf and to turn her in to the elves there. Given how little traveled the road to the Mierani Forest is, it seems reasonable, as long as they can keep her disguised long enough to get out of Riddleport. I may have her try to escape during the opening encounter of that module.
Thanks for the input!
Hello All!
Starting a Second Darkness game myself with a great group of gamers. I had a question about the Void Zombies which are contained within this awesome Adventure Path (AP).
Are the Void Zombies effected by a Cleric's ability to channel positive or negative energy?
Since they are parasites, and not proper Zombies. . .are they alive--and thus take damage from negative energy channels and are healed by positive energy channels?
Or are the bodies used by the parasites classified as dead and thus take positive energy damage and leave the poor head parasite high and dry upon destruction?
Thanks in advance for any help you may offer!
Where is the Foamrunner docked? The tsunami when the meteorite hits is explicitly called out as damaging all the ships in the harbor, which is why they're so hard to come by for parties going to Devil's Elbow. If the Foamrunner is damaged along with all the other ships in town, the party might be in enough of a hurry to get to the island before the other groups have it picked clean to hire a ship that wasn't in port when the stone hit. Alternatively, if they do take the Foamrunner to the island, they'll have to have a crew to man it while they're exploring; maybe the crew was nervous about sailing to the Devil's Elbow in the first place because of the stories of the siren's ghost. They might take their opportunity to get away from the haunted island while the party is exploring, giving the PCs a chance to hunt them down and work their Chaotic Evil revenge on them at a later date.
Im getting ready to restart my game (RL interfered with my wifes health)
I was reading Jason blog about Int weapons and I was thinking about making Shindiiras weapon intelegent
I was thinking of making it an Elven Weapon she stole from Mierani Forest so she has no idea is Int an Weapon and it could give the PCs some hints on where things are in Mierani while they are there during the Armagedon Echo. What do you think I was kinda thinking an item based on Sight like give it some vision based spells
So I created the Int Weapon
Mondraer (eberon Elven for Sighted)
+1 Ghost Touch Bastard Sword
CG
Int 10
Wis 14
Cha 12
Ego 9
Languages Common, Elven
Senses Darkvision 120ft
Cast Detect Secret Doors 3xDay
Cast See Invisibilty 1xDay
Cast Arcane Sight 1xWeek
Percetion +12
Its is always 10 degrees Warmer within 30ft of Sword
GP Value 27,000
Mondraer remembers the first Earthfall he was struck down by the flaming meteror and then remembers waking up in the form of a sword. He has stayed in the Mierani forest most of his remembered time. He would help a Elven hero "See" what he needed to see and helping them fight what couldnt always been seen in this realm. He has been lost on more then one occasion and stuck in a dragons horde for quite some time once. He was recently used against the Drow invading Mierani, his weilder fell and this evil drow picked him up and he has been hiding and biding his time till he can get rid of this drow and help clense his former home.
He is keeping himself completly secret from Shindiira worring that if she finds out his is Elven she will either corrupt or destroy him.
(The reason its always hot around him was because of they way he "died" in the the orginal earthfall)